The Brightest Night
by 3laxx
Summary: As Nino once again walks the road where she was taken, his thoughts wandering with him. Alya unknowingly starts a break out and runs through the forest, lost, hoping to be found by the right people. And at the end. It's the brightest Night.
1. Nino

**Just a TwoShot I wrote, inspired by a picture my girlfriend drew.**  
**It's a little older, I know xD**  
**Have a kidnapped Alya~**

* * *

"Don't die on me - Please.", Nino mumbled as he once again walked down the dark way through the forest, his flashlight barely illuminating the path before him. He knew he should've changed the batteries beforehand.

The calming weight of his phone in his back pocket, as well as the backpack filled with water and snacks made it a little more bearable. It held him in the reality and hindered him in getting lost in his thoughts.

Alya had been missing for eleven days now. Even if this reality hurt, he needed to keep his feet on the ground. He needed to keep a cool head and even if the police and their superheroes didn't have a lead and her family was helpless, he had to pull through.

This had been the path on which her phone had been found. Together with her ripped, bloody shirt. Of course, it had been a rouse, the kidnappers wanted them to think she had been killed by an animal or something. The police had tested the blood and it had been from a rat. They hadn't even bothered taking something else than roadkill.

It wasn't clear yet what Alya had to go through. Maybe she was being used, maybe just prisoned somewhere, maybe already dead. Maybe the kidnappers had sold her to someone else outside of Europe. Nino had lost count of all the possibilities that had plagued him over the past nights.

By now he was-… Well, not that he accepted it. Anyone hurting Alya would pay with their lives.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing but walk this path again and again, either hoping the kidnappers would take him as well or-… Well, what? He sighed. Maybe hoping was all he could do.

The dim light of his flashlight ghosted over green and orange leaves, throwing weird shadows that were too big. The trees looked like towers in the dark and when he shone on them the bark gave them a weird texture. He continued on, the light gravel and sand crunching gently under his shoes. It wasn't really cold but summer was nearing its end. The nights got cooler and he had to wear a jacket by now.

When they had first noticed that Alya wasn't coming back she had already been gone for a few hours. She said she had wanted to get a few photos of ladybugs for her blog, the word document still opened on her computer. It had been in the evening, at dinner, when her parents had finally noticed. It wasn't a surprise for them that Alya was outside, she was an active girl and loved to be outside. But when she hadn't picked up her phone her mother had started worrying. After dinner they had gone venturing out on their own after calling a few classmates, including him, to ask if Alya had come to their place. It wasn't before long that the whole class had joined searching, including their parents.

In the end it had been Marinette who had found Alya's phone and shirt.

He frowned when he passed the spot where Alya's things had laid, Marinette's horrified scream still sending a shiver down his spine. His flashlight lingered just a second longer on the spot that was secured with police tape, then he continued. His free hand found its way into his other pocket and he leant back a bit, sighing.

Day eleven, then. Day eleven and still nothing. No clue, no witnesses. The last photo on her phone had been the sunset, a peaceful picture right before doom. The last call just around lunch, with Marinette. Apparently, they had talked about the article Alya had been about to write. Her last interaction with her mother, as she ventured out of the front door, throwing a goodbye over her shoulder.

Nino rolled his sore shoulders, trying to relax his muscles in back and shoulders. He hadn't really slept since it had happened. Or when he had it had been nightmares, leaving him shaking and sobbing in the middle of the night.

Day eleven.

He let the flashlight wander in disinterested circles, trying to at least find a bit entertainment in the way the shadows wandered to distract himself from his thoughts. By now he must've imagined every scenario possible, the more and the lesser comfortable ones alike. Maybe she had faked her death and begun a new life. Well, at sixteen that would be a pretty big step and she had never spoken about doing something like that but hey, a little better to imagine than her being forcefully pulled into the bushes by some people with bad intentions.

Nino shivered when he imagined the fear Alya must've been through.

No, no, follow the light with your eyes. Left and then right again and then make a long curve over the path and up a tree into its leaves. Distract yourself from your thoughts.

He sighed again, blinking slowly, feeling himself growing tired.

He wouldn't find anything. What had he hoped for anyway? Why was he even here? Hoping they'd find him as well? Bring him to her? Attack the exact same path again? Yeah right…

Nino was already tempted to turn around and walk back as he heard distinct rustling down the path. An animal? No, it sounded bigger than that. Wolf, bear? No… He would know if these animals lived so close to Paris. Maybe a dog?

He squinted his eyes and stepped further down the path, keeping his flashlight on the bushes on the side of the path.

The rustling got louder, as if that thing was running. He could hear panicked, fast breathing now as well, that certainly didn't sound like an animal. No, somehow his feeling told him that this was another human. Mari?

"H-Hello?", he called, gulping. The rustling stopped just a few meters away from him and he stopped as well, shining in the direction of where he had last heard it. Maybe it was a dog and he had scared it, causing it to stop. Or a deer? Maybe a boar. He heard these things could be very aggressive. Should he run and climb? But this breathing… It hadn't been his. Yet it had still sounded human. Right?

He took another step, then the rustling sounded up again, coming towards him. The quick breaths were audible again as well and he squinted his eyes as the bushes of the thick undergrowth now finally parted. A human tried straightening up but they were breathing too hardly to do so. Also, something else was on their side but he couldn't see anything specific yet.

But then the human, smaller than him, looked up.

A very shocked and scared Alya stared at him with wide eyes, her face pale and beaten up, covered in scratches and apparently bruises. Her eyes were just a little too wide and her mouth was slightly opened to allow her panicked breaths to escape.

He didn't allow himself another thought as he dropped the flashlight and his backpack and sprinted towards her, jumping into the slightly lowered bushes around the path. The thorns ripped open his jeans but he didn't care because as soon as he crashed against her, throwing his arms around her shivering body, everything else wasn't important anymore. She felt a little cold but still warm enough to assure him it would be okay. She would be okay.

He hugged her tightly, still not believing that he had been able to find her, that she was here, in his arms, relatively unharmed and alive. _Alive_.

She didn't react at first but then, slowly, the sobs overtook her body and she allowed herself to lean into him, melting in his embrace. He pressed his cheek against her forehead and his breath hitched as well as he wrapped his arms tighter around her, desperately holding her close.

"I got you… It's okay, Alya, it's okay… I'm here for you, you're here, you're home now…", he mumbled, mindlessly, while one of his hands found its way in her hair to cup the back of her head, "It's okay, Alya… You're fine… You're okay…"

She coughed slightly, her voice sounding rough and raspy, and only then he remembered she must feel cold. And she was probably hungry and thirsty as well.

He gently, as carefully as he could, bend down to lock his arm around her lower back and thighs to lift her up, not to startle her. She held onto him with one arm around his neck, the other still wrapped around her stomach.

With a frown he noticed she had gotten a little lighter, but that'd be okay. It would be okay again.

He carried her back onto the path, climbing up the little slope until his feet were on even ground again. Only then he lowered her down again and softly led her to sit on the floor with him.

She only kneeled down but he figured that would do as well. With a swift motion he pulled his jacket off and laid it around her shoulders, pulling it so she would be able to warm up quickly again.

Only then he noticed the red stains on her shirt and especially around the area where her hand clenched into the fabric. His breath hitched again but he blinked his tears away, slightly shaking his head. If she had run through the forest it hopefully wouldn't be life threatening and as the first thing he wanted her to drink a bit of water. He figured she didn't have that much during the last days.

"It'll be okay, Alya, it'll be fine.", he murmured while pulling his backpack close, his knees hugging hers to stay as close as possible. She leant her head against his shoulder, her arm still staying around his neck to hold him close. He quickly placed the flashlight in his lap to have a little light, then he pulled out the bottle and already reached for the bandages he had packed in the hope of not having to use them.

"Here, drink something and I'll put that on your wound, okay? Then we'll call your parents and bring you home."

She sobbed dryly but took the opened bottle, her hand staying on her stomach.

"Alya… I-… I have to see the wound… Please…"

Only after a few moments of soothingly talking to her she revealed the cut, now also finally taking a sip from the bottle. He stayed close as he tightly wrapped the bandage around her waist, hoping to keep as much blood in as he could. She sometimes winced in pain but overall stayed silent. She was probably still in shock.

When he was done and pulled down the remains of her shirt again he just softly hugged her, sneaking a chocolate bar into her hands that he had felt her cleaning on his shirt. They were probably sticky so he didn't care. If it made her feel better he would let her do anything.

He pressed his nose into the crook of her neck and gently brushed over her back while pulling his phone out and calling her parents.

"You'll be home soon, Alya.", he mumbled, "You'll be okay. We'll get you home and you'll be patched up. You don't have to talk, all that matters is that you're here… You're here, you're home, Alya…"

She had calmed down a little, her shivering going down beneath the warmth of his jacket and his embrace.

It still dialed when he felt her breathing in again, hiding her face on his shoulder.

"… Th-Thank-… Y-You, Nino…", she whispered, her voice hoarse and shaky.

"It's okay, Alya… I got you, you're safe…", her father didn't pick up so he tried her mother's number, still holding on tightly, "I love you."


	2. Alya

She sat up slowly in her cell, closely watching as the man walked out again. Her head was still throbbing from his punches and her side was burning in pain but she had to take this chance. Hopefully he hadn't noticed her stealing his necklace when she had tried wrestling him again.

The sharp metal necklace was securely hidden in the back pocket of her jeans and she would be able to slide it away from her as soon as he noticed not to be blamed for theft by him. Well, he would punish her anyway but she could still hope.

The metal door clicked into its lock and Alya slid back against the wall to lean her back against the cold surface. Her arm felt weird and her vision got blurry from the blood loss but she would pull through. They wanted to keep her here alive for as long as they could, on Hawkmoth's behalf.

Ever since Hawkmoth had found out that Ladybug had a bond to the young reporter Alya had felt that the Akumas had liked to target her instead of letting her record. Prime Queen had just been the beginning with wanting to throw her into the Seine, then there had been La Befana turning her to coal and her little sisters.

It had been obvious that the attacks had begun pulling her into a danger that she hadn't anticipated. It had only become worse when Ladybug had saved her.

Not that she wasn't grateful. Hawkmoth had just observed and obviously decided to use foul play now. If anyone knew she was missing by now? She knew it had been ten days, the little, smeary window in her cell at least showed her day and night. If she hadn't lost count, that was.

The men holding her hostage here had interrogated her about Ladybug's identity with a rich amount of torture methods and even if none of them was meant to kill, they had managed to make her feel like she would lose her mind if she stayed any longer.

But she wasn't ready for that, oh no. Not her.

She had family, friends, a boyfriend. She wouldn't allow herself to go insane. And she certainly wouldn't sit around here to be saved like a damsel in distress. Since she knew that Hawkmoth paid the men quite a lot she assumed he was rich. Thus, he must be influential and most of all, he could probably pay humans to keep their silence. And to not leave clues.

He didn't want, didn't need a ransom. All he wanted was to have a leverage against Ladybug.

He wanted to weaken her because he knew she cared for Alya.

The girl clenched her teeth and pressed her hand on the wound the man had given her, then she stemmed her feet against the rough cement ground and wormed herself up on the wall. She hadn't stood in days.

Immediately her dizziness overwhelmed her and with a yelp, she fell to the floor again, wincing in pain. But she needed to get up. She needed to get out of here. Back to her family, to her friends. To Ladybug, to reassure her she was fine and to have the superhero on full capacity of her powers again.

Back to Nino.

Alya gulped as his smile flashed through her mind, his golden eyes laughing down to her as he pushed her hair back, leaning down for a kiss. She allowed herself a small smile, then she imagined him nodding. She had to get up.

As she woke up again the sunset of the tenth day had changed to night. Was it already the eleventh day? How long had she been knocked out? No, she couldn't let this get to her confidence. She needed to get up.

With a grunt she managed to turn to the side and press her face against the cool floor, breathing through a few times before turning further, onto her knees. She straightened up, not without the support of the wall, and stared down to her lap.

Kneeling was a step. That was already progress. Alya pressed her shoulder against the wall and blinked a few times to stop the world from spinning.

Her family counted on her. The twins would be happy to see her. Her mother would hug her and kiss her forehead. Her father would pepper her face with kisses while cradling her head. He would probably cry. Out of her parents her father had always been the crybaby.

Marinette would hide her face in her shoulder and hug her for hours. They would probably end up cuddling for the night. She knew how much she meant to the small, blue-haired girl.

Nino…

She bit back her tears as his heartbroken face appeared in her mind. He must've been devastated when being told she was missing. She knew how much he loved her, they hadn't been together for a year for nothing. He was so sweet and gentle with her, always on the lookout to make her smile and laugh. He made her feel like home could be anywhere.

Suddenly she felt his warm hands on her elbows. Her head snapped up and she saw him, he was right there, kneeling. There, right here in her cell.

The boy smiled and lifted one hand up to cup her cheek, brushing over her cheekbone. She felt a tear running right through his thumb but it didn't matter to her, he was right there.

"… N-Nino-…"

"Hey Alya.", he greeted, his voice sounding as if she was underwater. He still smiled but something was off. He wasn't sitting in the dark, it was like his skin had taken the color of his eyes. She could see the slight frame of the door behind his forehead.

"… What-… What-… Is th-this-…?"

He leant forward and pressed a feathery kiss on her forehead, then locked their eyes again.

"Alya, I need you to stand up. Stand up, c'mon, I'll help you."

She felt his grip on her elbows tightening and pushing her up, helping her onto her feet. As soon as she stood, heavily propped up against the wall with her shoulder, he nodded proudly.

"I'm so proud of you, Alya. You're so brave."

She sobbed and stretched her hand out but he took a step back, shaking his head. His expression changed to a soothing one, his lines getting softer.

"Don't concentrate on me, Alya. Do you still have the necklace?"

A seething feeling ran down her spine as she reached back and found the necklace of the man in her back pocket. It was still there. Nino's expression changed again and his lines briefly blurred before he looked determined, pointing to the window.

"You know why you stole it, Alya. Use it."

With his encouraging words she turned and felt a wave of adrenaline washing through her body, helping her getting her thoughts straight and her body to move. She stumbled to the window that was just above her head, low enough to reach but too high to look straight out.

"Good! Now, open the lock!", Nino cheered, stepping next to her. He easily towered over her so he could see her fingers fumbling with the lock, "Okay, you need to take the necklace and click the lock right open. Just take the pendant and slide it along the lower rim."

She did as he said and felt a small gap into which she slid the pendant. The lock clicked open and the window tilted outside, allowing fresh air to flow over Alya like cold water. She breathed through, relieved, as the window stayed open, then she looked over to Nino. He smiled again, so softly and lovingly that she thought she might cry.

"You did good, Alya. I'm so proud of you.", the boy once again stepped forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead, the feather touch spreading a warm feeling in her body, "And now go, Alya. I'll be waiting for you."

With a blink he was gone. The light she had felt while he had been here, the calming golden glow, was gone. But she knew she had a chance now. She knew she could do it. He was waiting for her.

Nino would be waiting for her and she would feel his kisses for real then.

She would find back to him. She always did.

With renewed confidence and ferocity, she didn't care about her wound anymore. Alya jumped a little and clenched her teeth and she opened the window fully to the outside. Her hands grabbed the frame and she pulled herself up, surprised at how much strength she could still muster up in the desperate hope of escaping.

With a little wiggling and pushing, she finally crawled through the window and stood up in the small vertical tunnel, a little smaller than herself, that led down to the window, covered with a metal grid. She grabbed it and lifted it up, quickly checking the dark surroundings of the house in the woods before carefully letting the metal grid slide upon the grass next to the shaft.

Alya then checked again and listened, before hoisting herself up and carefully placing the metal grid on the opening again. She had silently closed the window with her foot so that they wouldn't find immediate evidence on where she had gone.

The necklace that had been her key was tightly hidden in her free fist while her other hand clenched around her wound. But it didn't matter. With fast, silent steps she ran across the small grass patch and into the undergrowth of the wood. Behind her, the house laid still and dark while the sun slowly lit up the sky above the leaves.

Alya bit her lip not to let out a cry as the thorns sliced open her jeans and continued running as silently as she could. When she finally heard cries of alarm from the men, the sun had already made its way into the sky, lingering just over the horizon to start a new day. And she knew she was gone before they could catch her.

The day went by in a haze. Alya didn't allow herself to stop to rest a bit. Maybe slow her steps for a moment to catch a bit of breath but that was the most she dared. After all she had still been in hearing range when she had heard the cars swerving out of the parking lot to find her with squealing tires and roaring motors.

She knew they suspected her to have run into the woods but she was certain they wouldn't find her. She was smaller and probably stealthier than these men and she knew she could hide pretty well. Her breathing would become a problem to conceal but only if they came too close. And this forest was pretty big so she hoped, no, knew, she would get out of here.

Maybe it was the hope to come home that drove her farther and farther away from the house. Maybe it was the fear to go back there and be punished. Maybe it was the hallucination she had had in the cell, maybe it was Nino's smile or Mari's blue eyes or Adrien's bad puns to make her take another step towards freedom. Maybe it was her sisters' bubbling joy or her mother's loving embrace. Maybe it was her father's tears or Sabine's and Tom's pastries. Maybe it was Miss Bustier's attempt to make school fun or Ladybug's confidence and Chat Noir's bravery that made her run faster whenever she could.

She didn't really know if she ran out of despair or hope or love or probably just fear. All she knew when the sun neared its peak on the sky was that she had to go further. She had to take that extra step and another one. Nino's smile gave her new hope, Mari's eyes gave her new confidence. Her family fueled her heart and Adrien's jokes her mind.

She was not giving up. For them, for herself. Even if her calves hurt and her thighs burned and even if the wound on her side made her vision look blurrier and her head throb harder. Even if every bruise and every single beaten bone in her body slowed her down, she wouldn't stay down.

As the sun climbed down from its peak and the afternoon began, she was walking. Her feet ached and her chest heaved with every step. But at least she didn't hear anything but a few birds anymore. No tires, no screaming men, no nothing. She knew she had shaken them off.

When the sun lowered itself onto the horizon again, bleeding into the sky with wonderful colors of orange and red, she had slept for a few hours and was running again. The nap on the soft forest floor had immensely helped her and even if it had brought her escape to a halt then, she knew she was safe from these men by now. She knew she could rest and then flee further.

As she ran faster, the sky darkened and the orange and red tinges changed to violet and finally to dark blue. Nino was waiting for her, he had said so. He was waiting for her.

She clenched her teeth and dug her palm tighter onto the wound. She would make it. She would make it, for him. For everyone waiting for her.

As the dark broke in over her she lost track of time. All she knew was running, all she did and needed was running. She needed to.

Run further, she chanted, run further, Nino is waiting for you.

The freedom had already taken control of her mind and soul. She was tempted to cry of relief that she was free but she didn't dare celebrating just yet. She needed to be completely safe first, found by someone, before she could be relieved.

So she continued running. No matter how thick the undergrowth was, no matter how often she fell or how often her breathing cut out and she had to slow down. She would run further, she would-

Her legs already stopped before she had realized a light was dancing through the dark, somewhere a little above her. A flashlight.

No. No no no.

They had found her after all. She was too scared to drop down on the floor and pray. She was too exhausted to change directions and run for her life. All her hope shattered in the one little moment that she heard the male voice calling out and saw the light dancing over the leaves of the trees, almost mockingly. They had found her. She would go back to that hell and they'd kill her. She would have to bear the pain and accept that she wouldn't ever feel her father peppering kisses all over her face again, she would never feel her mother's embrace or the twins jumping on her back again. Mari's eyes would remain unseeing and Adrien's jokes unheard. She wouldn't ever make Nino smile again. That was it then.

She was frozen in fear and she would never, ever-

The light remained a few meters beside her, maybe two. One flick of the flashlight and she would be discovered. The man took a step forward and her eyes widened as the person came into view. This red cap. This blue shirt, even if it was half obscured by a jacket. She wouldn't ever forget how it looked like.

With a new jolt of energy, she surged forward and ran towards him, her pain and all her worries forgotten. The hope had returned with the might of a car slamming into her, leaving her breathless and with tears in her eyes. Two last steps, one last step.

Then she was out of the bushes. Out of the undergrowth. Her wound stung and she leant forward to catch her breath, then she straightened up and looked up to her boyfriend. He was right there, waiting for her as he had promised, his face contorted in shock and surprise. It took just a moment for him to act, drop the flashlight and his backpack and jump down to her.

And when he crashed into her, almost sending them both to the ground, his arms tightly wrapping around her, she knew she was safe. She was home.

He always managed to make her feel like home could be anywhere with him.


End file.
